Aldi Compressor

Doki · 2008-02-28T10:35:36+00:00

I've just been and bought one of the compressors from Aldi. £69 quid and a big kit of air tools to go with it in the box. The compressors rated at 9.5CFM (so the Aldi website figure of 27l/min was a typo - should have been 270l/min). Duty cycle is 50% and it's not supposed to be run for longer than 15 minutes, however there is a 3 year warranty. Most small compressors like this are fairly disposable items so I suspect the short run time caveat is there to avoid too many returns within the 3 year period, although it is a proper oil lubed compressor rather than "oil free" tat. If you want an actual decent compressor for heavy use that won't die on you, then you really need to be spending £300 or so on a belt driven machine.The kit's got a couple of spray guns in it - one gravity feed, one suction. Both guns look alright, the suction gun being identical to a primer gun I picked up for £15 a while back, but to use either properly you really need a small gun reg and gauge, particularly with a small compressor due to the small reciever and lack of excess capacity. There's an airbrush, but it's only useable with water or oil based paints, so it's fairly useless for car work. There's a load of air hose chucked in for free, which is nice, and everything is fitted with high flow connectors, which would be a few quid if you bought them seperately. Neither gun looks to be HVLP.The other bits and bobs are a tyre inflator, a blow duster, a parafin gun and a jet washer gun. Basically the stuff you get in any cheap kit of air tools from any tool shop.All in all it's bloody cheap for what it is - I reckon you'd be looking at near on £150 at machine mart for the same sort of clobber. It'd probably be sufficient for spraying a panel or two, perhaps even a bodyside, but you'd probably struggle for air with an entire car to do, and would almost certainly be exceeding the stated duty cycle. Obviously there's the usual caveat about 2 pack - yes, you could spray it with this kit but...

Feb 28, 2008 21 Replies

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Dave Plowman (News) 11 years ago

Buy one in Halfords.

At one time a garage would have its airline tested at the same time as its pumps. To make sure they are within spec.

The gauge on my tyre inflator which is part of a jump start pack reads to over 200 psi. At 30psi true, it reads 40 psi. You'd do better by kicking the tyres. ;-) Over inflating tyres will give a hard ride but isn't dangerous (within reason). An underinflate tyre will overheat and can blow out at speed.

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Gordon H 11 years ago

I think my digital tyre gauge is reasonably accurate. I also keep an eye on tread wear across the tyre, which is the best way of knowing whether pressures are correct, even if rather belatedly. ;-)

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